


Dancing dots and round edges

by igrewupwiththis



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Claustrophobia, Claustrophobic Lance, Galra!Keith, M/M, Trans!Keith, dad shirogane, klance fluff, lidge bromance, like theyre totally siblings, pidgance, pidgance bromance, tiny pidge podge, uuuuhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 05:16:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12247743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/igrewupwiththis/pseuds/igrewupwiththis
Summary: Lance and Keith grow closer when they work together to get Blue to open up to Lance again after he had a nervous breakdown in his lion. After some time he discovers these weird purple spots on Keith's arms...





	1. Helping each other out

Being a paladin was hard work, that was for sure. Battles for hours if not days, physical as well as mental exhaustion and of course the burden of the whole universe depending on you.

But on days like these the paladins loved their lives. Every month Shiro, their leader, let one of them choose one planet where they'd be staying for a day and do exactly nothing. This month it was Lance's turn, and of course he had chosen a planet with perfect dry and warm weather and a big ocean. It was uninhabited except for some small animals they weren't able to identify, but they didn't seem dangerous, so the seven decided to stay.

They were kind of like a really weird big family; Coran caring for all of them like a grandpa and Allura and Shiro the adults in charge of the remaining children. Some insisted that Pidge was the baby, but she had insisted to break their noses if they said that ever again.

Nevertheless they all enjoyed the day. All, except for it seemed like one.

"C'mon Keith, aren't you hot in that? Loosen up a little!" Lance shouted laughing from Hunks shoulders, just to be kicked into the water by Pidge, who was comfortably positioned on Shiro's shoulders.

"Are you seriously asking a trans dude to take off his clothes, Lance?" She asked as her friend surfaced again.

"I uhh… That's not what I meant," he uttered, obviously embarrassed.

"Just let it go," Keith said from under the tree he leaned against. He still wore long pants, his jacket and even the fingerless gloves. Lance didn't get it.

"I am sure he has his reasons," Allura chimed in from the shore. "Keith, would you mind helping me carry these wonderful sea shells to the castle? I want to see if there's more to them than their pretty looks."

"Of course, princess," he announced, visibly relieved to leave the scenery. She glared at Lance one last time who rose his hands in defence before handing the shells over to Keith. When they left, Lance looked at his friends who just shrugged.

"I still wish he'd loosen up," he said, starting to swim on his back looking up into purple sky. Apparently, due to a weird molecule or something not only the sea but also the sky reflecting it was a bright purple.

"You could have worded it nicer, though," Shiro scolded. He had his hands around Pidge's ankles, except for one finger that was raised

"I think Lance just wishes Keith to be more comfortable around us, since we're his family," Hunk explained for Lance. He didn't want any fights between his friends. "Keith should know that team Voltron is a safe space for him! Right, Lance?"

"Yeah, that's what I meant." He kept floating in the water when Pidge spoke up.

"Oh my God guys, should I show you something I used to do with Matt when we were little?" She looked happy at the memory.

Shiro looked up at her to catch her face and he smiled back. "Sure."

"Okay, but you gotta let go of my feet." He did as he was told and she crossed her feet behind his back. "I'm gonna lean back, try not to fall back."

The boys looked at each other questioningly but Pidge had already leaned back so far her bangs almost touched the water and put her hands on Shiro's waist head over, only to let her feet uncross and her legs swing over his head behind him so they landed in the water and she stood straight as a pole, grinning from behind his back. Hunk was clapping, impressed.

"What the hell, since when are you so flexible?" Lance asked. "Why don't you brag all the time about this? Man, this is so cool."

His adoptive little sister shrugged and laughed, "Matt and me used to do acrobatics for some time before we got into tech, he stayed only a few weeks but I did it for like three years." To prove her point she dove into the water stretching her legs out, slowly going into splits.

"This little bug never ceases to amaze me," Hunk said and grabbed her legs to throw her farther out into the sea.

"Are you kiddi- AAAAAHHH!" she screamed and splashed into the water.

"Hunk!" Lance laughed. "Leave the bug alone!"

He swam over to her and threw her over her shoulder.

"Let me down! I swear to God!" Pidge was kicking and boxing but Lance didn't budge.

"No!" he exclaimed dramatically. "I have to save the princess, for she cannot swim!"

"I can swim you moron!" She shouted her lungs out, when her actual saviour came.

Shiro grabbed her and put her on his shoulders again and started walking to the shore. "Yes the princess can swim, but she needs to reapply her sunscreen for her skin is white as snow," he laughed.

"Noooo," the princess groaned and leaned back, but since Shiro held her legs tightly she wasn’t able to pull her acrobatic trick again.

"Yeeess," he said and put her on the towels on the black sand. Coran had explained to them that this was because this planet used to be filled with volcanoes, so the colour came from the coal or something. Lance had been too excited to pay attention a lot.

He lied down in the water again, letting himself float  with the rhythm of it. He closed his eyes,  imagining the breaking of the tiny waves at the shore were blue not purple, as well as the sky. He tried to imagine he was home, but it was way too quiet. Neither chatting moms nor playing cousins were to be heard, no fire crackling or dishes clattering. Also it smelled differently. This water was less salty than the oceans on earth. He wondered why, or rather why the sea at home was this salty…

"Guys, come home, we got a distress signal from a nearby planet."

His thoughts were interrupted by Keith's voice. Apparently he had run all the way back to them.

"Aw, come on, man," Lance said, annoyed to break off their holiday earlier than expected.

* * *

 

"Hunk, behind you!" Lance shouted. He was still very much annoyed, this was supposed to be his day, but at the moment it didn't look much like it. The neighbouring planet was currently being attacked by Galra ships, looking like they were here to stay.

Hunk's lion had turned around quickly to shoot back at the fighters advancing on him. The battle was going good, but then more fighters had appeared and now they looked like Lance and his friend were trapped.

"Uuuhh, Pidge? Shiro? Anyone? We need some help here!" Hunk shouted frantically.

"Hang in there," Shiro said through the intercom, "we're trying to fight our way outta here, then we'll get to you!"

This was not helping.

"Hunk, try to distract them, I'll try to sneak away and attack from behind," the blue paladin announced. His friend didn't seem very happy, but he agreed.

The blue lion dropped, manoeuvring between the enemy's pawns out of that trapped situation. They were fighting just a few hundred meters above the ground of the planet near a cliff, so Lance was just above the ground when a hit stroke his lions back, making it crash on the floor, rolling towards the cliff.

"No, no, no, no," its pilot grumbled. "Get up, come on girl get UP!"

But he kept advancing onto the big hole in the ground. He couldn't guess what was down there, the only thing he saw was darkness and some fog.

Just a few meters before the drop his lion stopped, responding again and digging its claws into the ground.

"Yes! That's what I'm talking about!"

He tried to fly up again then an entire artillery came crashing down on him again, sending him down the abyss.

He tumbled and fell and when he realized there's nothing he can do anymore he covered himself with his arms and waited for the final crash. Which he surprisingly not only survived, but also stayed awake through, despite it feeling like a bull kicking you in the head as well as in the stomach.

He exhaled deeply, giving himself a second to rest and process. Then he began fuzzily to restart his lion, which wouldn't respond.

"Come oooon, girl," he said, grabbing the controls tighter and pushing harder, but nothing would work.

"Uuuurrgghh! Are you for real? I'm tired, too!" he exclaimed. Then he clicked on the intercom and waited for the light to light up, but it only flickered. "Hello? Team Voltron? Can you help me, I've crashed!"

He waited for a minute, then tried again, waited tried again.

For the last time, he began, "Lance speaking, can you hea-" "Lance! Thank God!" He didn't know he'd be ever so relieved to hear Hunks voice. "Where are you?"

"Listen dude, I fell down the cliff thingy…" He caught his breath, exhaling all the panic he didn't know was there.

"What did you say? You're k-… -utting out, I ca-… Are you there?"

"Hunk! Stay with me, man! I'm in the cliff!" Now honest panic was starting to dwell up in him.

"Wh-… I… ha-… Shi-.." And then the line went dead. Lance knew Hunk didn't hang up on him, it was failure of the device and signal.

"Shit," he muttered. "Shit, shit, shit, SHIT!" He stood up from his seat and walked towards the exit, but nothing would either open up or move at all.

"SHIT!" He shouted again, his throat getting tighter with every second. He didn't need this right now, but he knew he'd lose his mind if he'd stayed in the lion for longer.

He started the intercom again, this time also contacting the castle.

With a quivering voice he announced, "I fucking need you to get me out of here THIS INSTANT I can't-" but then it broke down again. He dropped to his knees and felt tears dwelling up in his eyes along with the worst feeling in the world in his chest.

"Blue," he sobbed, "at least open up, please!" But she didn't budge.

"Please," he cried, slamming his fist on the controls. "Please, please, please." Slam, slam, slam. "Let me out, you…!"

Cussing her out would do nothing. He'd only break her trust. He felt trapped in his own safe space and the feeling made him want to die. He needed some space, at least some more freedom to move, so he frantically took off his helmet, along with his whole armour after that didn't work.

He lowered himself on his seat again, with a headache that was killing him and an aching chest. He closed his eyes and imagined he was at a table in the Altean castle, but again it was too quiet. No chatting paladins or clattering of dishes. He let out a last sob and fell asleep of exhaustion.

He didn't realize how his vehicle's doors opened on their own, how two hours later a black and a red lion landed next to his, how their paladins got out and how he was carried back home by them. He didn't witness how he was lowered on the sofa in the castle and how his pretend little sister came running towards him. "Oh, my dear boy," he didn't hear her say and didn't feel her hugging his sleeping body.

She stayed with him the whole time until the next day when he woke up early, rubbing his head and stretching his sore limbs. His memories came back to him, and he felt worse by each second.

"Thank goodness you're awake," Pidge said next to him. Of course she had slept, but she was so alert when she fell asleep, that her attentiveness had carried through her sleep. He looked at her and felt immediately better, unable to describe his love for her. He stretched his arms out and she jumped into his arms, hugging him tight, in fear her big brother would leave. Again.

"I'm so sorry," Lance said into her hair. "I shouldn't have been so reckless."

But she just shook her head. "You were trying to save yourself and Hunk. No one's blaming you."

That didn't convince him entirely but they stayed like this, slipping in and out of consciousness, half awake half asleep until the others woke up.

"Jesus, Lance, you scared the hell out of me," Shiro said, entering the room.

"I'm sorry. It takes more than a fall out of two kilometres height to kill me, though," he said, looking up at his team leader, cracking a smile.

"How about you have a bite before contemplating yesterday?" Shiro suggested, cocking his head in the direction to the dining room.

"Amazing idea," Lance huffed and got up. Together with Pidge he walked to the dining room, an arm around her shoulder, both acting like it was a brotherly gesture, not Pidge helping him to walk, because he wouldn't make it far on his own.

At the dining table the conversation was solely about the defeat of the Galra the day before. Lance listened closely to the team, trying to put the pieces together how exactly the battle ended. Hunks explanations weren't exactly helpful.

"At first I was sceptical about Lance's plan but then he just dropped like NYOOM and I was like 'oh no what am I gonna do now' but then Pidge came like POW POW POW but then the Galra went after Lance and I thought-"

"Oh my God," Lance suddenly said. He was just reminded of something important. "What happened to Blue? Is she okay?"

Shiro made a calming gesture with his hands, telling Lance everything was okay. "No need to worry, she's on the ship. I even think she's fully intact."

"But that's not possible," Lance replied. "If she was fully intact I wouldn't have been in that shit situation. Neither intercom nor the entire lion herself worked, hell, she didn’t even open the door for me."

"Did you maybe push her too much?" Keith said. "Sometimes that happens with red."

"If I pushed her too much? Remember what happened the last time I was trapped somewhere?"

They did. They were on a planet that almost only consisted of narrow caves, and Lance had actually got lost. At some point he found himself in a labyrinth of caves where he kept passing the same spot, constantly walking in a circle. The paladins had found him passed out from hyperventilation and he wasn't able to talk for days because he had strained his vocal chords from calling for help.

"Sorry," Keith said. "I forgot."

"Yeah," Lance answered. To him it seemed like they all kept forgetting. He stood up. "I'm going to see if she's okay, if you guys don't mind?"

Allura sent him a warm smile. "Don't worry, go on. Tell her I said hello."

Lance nodded and left the room.

"Hello, Blueeee," he called through the blue lion's hangar. He tried to let go the memories of the past day, trying to not feel any panic or tightness. "It's me, ya boy Lancey Lance."

He approached her and expected her to at least light up, but that didn't happen. "Are you seriously mad at me? After you trapped me?" No answer. "Okay you're right, accusing you won't help. Friends?"

He had reached her front paws and touched one of them. "Come on, girl, I need you!" He tried everything.  For hours he tried to get her to move, worry rising more and more. What if he wasn't the right paladin?

Every now and then his friends came to check in or to tell him they were training now, or that their training had ended.

This time it was Pidge. "Hey, Shiro told me to tell you to call it a day. Grab a bite to eat or something."

Lance was sitting next to Blue's paw, leaning against it. "Sure," he sighed. "be right with you."

Pidge was visibly displeased with his attitude, but she only sat down next to him, leaning against him. "It's okay, you know," she said. "Tomorrow is another day."

He huffed. "Yeah, another day where Zarkon could attack and we aren't able to form Voltron." Pidge shook her head, but said nothing. The minutes ticked by, both thinking about the day. "You know," he continued, "I'm actually sorry for what I said to Keith."

"He knows," she said. "But maybe you should tell him yourself."

He contemplated that. That would make things more awkward than they already were. Were they awkward though? Lance didn't know.

They kept talking about how to improve the current situation with Lance's lion, when Pidge had the idea that he could try to let go of the memories first, in a quiet place. "How about the top of the castle?" she suggested. "There's this big empty room with only one conference table in the middle, and there are no walls, only windows."

He was out of ideas, so he'd thought he'd give it a go. On the way up he thought of ways to maybe target his problem at the roots; were there quick ways to cure his claustrophobia? Another incident like yesterday and he'd give everything entirely up.

But he didn't have time to finish his crisis, because the big dark room wasn't entirely empty. There was the conference table just like Pidge said, but Lance wasn't the only person in the room.

"Keith?" he asked confusedly.

The boy was sitting on the table looking out the windows with his back turned to Lance. When he heard his voice he jumped and frantically pulled the jacket lying next to him on his lap, covering most of his arms with it.

"Lance? What are you doing here?" he asked over his shoulder.

"I just wanted… Pidge told me to come up here to take a rest or something. I can leave if you want me to…"

Keith had turned to the window again, his body language calmer now. Still Lance hadn't missed his panicked reaction to him entering the room.

"No, no, stay if you want."

Lance was still wary, but he copied Keith and sat down next to him. Closing his eyes he repeated yesterday's happenings, trying to separate them from the negative feeling, but it was like they were sewn together. Exhaling he put his head in his hands and tried again.

"How do you and Red get along so well?" he said, turning to Keith, who rose his eyebrow at him.

"I don't know, we just clicked." Keith looked out the window again. He had a dreamy look on his face, relaxed. "I wish I could give you some advice on your problem but I'm not claustrophobic… What about curing it?"

Lance exhaled and leaned back until his was lying on the table. "I don't know how."

"Hmm."

Again there was silence but both of them couldn't concentrate anymore.

"Maybe you just need to talk it out."

Lance rose his head to look at Keith. "You mean like, to you?"

Keith shrugged. "I don't care, if you wanna tell me then go ahead."

Lance rested his head on his arm again, deciding to just do it. He had to start somewhere, right?

"So I crashed in that… hole. And at first I didn't even think about being trapped, but still I panicked, it happened subconsciously I guess? Anyway, I tried to contact you guys and at first no one heard me but then Hunk answered and I thought 'Okay cool he'll just get me outta here' but he didn't understand me and then not only the signal but the entire emergency system shut down. I think that was Blue responding to my panic. I can't have that shit, you know? Imagine this happens again, I'll just die." It felt good to talk everything out.

"Yeah, that is rather inconvenient."

"But then I managed to get it going one last time, I wanted to call for help but then it ended completely. I tried to exit the lion but nothing would respond anymore, the doors wouldn't open, nothing. I threw such a tantrum in there."

"Oh," Keith said. "But you weren't wearing your armour when we got you out. How come?"

"So you got me out?" Lance was surprised.

"Yeah, me and Shiro. We all split up to find you and we found you first. The door was open, and were in your seat, not wearing your armour, only the training clothes we wear under it. We carried you out and since Shiro was busy carrying your lion home I took you home with Red."

This gave Lance a weird feeling. Then he remembered he was asked a question. "Oh I, uh, the suit made me feel even more claustrophobic. It wasn't nice, so I got rid of it." He exhaled deeply, feeling a little better.

"Did it work? Did you feel better after taking it off?" Keith asked.

"Not really. At first yes but then I realized it didn't change anything. And then…" He trailed off. He knew he could trust Keith, but it was still quite embarrassing.

But Keith didn’t ask further. He just looked at him, waiting for Lance to decide if he wanted to go on or not. The latter averted his eyes and looked at the roof.

"I was so scared that I started crying, I tried to imagine I was somewhere else but it didn’t work. I dunno man. I just sat down and must've fallen asleep. I was really tired anyway, I think the impact gave me a minor concussion or something."

He sat up, his chest feeling lighter than before.

"How do you feel now?"

Lance thought about it. "Better."

"Do you maybe wanna try again and go to Blue?"

Lance nodded.

"Let's go then," Keith said, jumping down the table and gesturing for Lance to tag along, surprising him.

"Yeah, sure," he said, and ran after Keith.

In front of his lion Lance tried to be as confident as possible. "Try to feel the same you did after you talked to me," Keith said.

Lance exhaled, trying to not think about it too much. "Blue! It's me again." He approached her, recalling good and happy memories. He smiled and stood next to her, determined to make it work. He looked back to Keith who held two thumbs up, boosting his confidence a little more. "You know," he started again, "I'm really happy we met. Also that you're my lion."

He lifted his hand to put it on the robot's paw and actually, felt something. She hummed! He heard Keith gasp and Lance looked up; his lion had lit up.

"Yes! Keith do you see this!" He hugged his lion's leg, grinning widely. "I knew you'd forgive me!"

But as soon as the words left his mouth he felt her shutting off again. "No! Okay I get it, you don’t forgive me yet, sure, but at least don’t leave me? Please?" But the lion stayed silent.

"I think that's a great first step," Keith said. "At least she responded."

"Yeah," Lance murmured turning around to his friend, his hand on his neck. "I guess you're right."

Together they left the blue lion, walking the long way back to the kitchen to get some food. Lance hadn't listened to Pidge when she told him to eat.

Quietly they walked through the tall castle's halls, bumping shoulders and brushing hands when they took a turn.

"You know," Lance said, "I'm really sorry about what I said to you at the beach yesterday. I was just trying to make a joke and be funny, but that didn't work out I guess. I don't want to push you."

Keith shook his head at him. "It's fine. I know your intentions weren't bad."

That relieved Lance. He wondered how he would react if he was in Keith's place.

"Still," he said.

"But thanks. You can talk to me if you need more help with your lion," Keith offered, giving Lance a warm feeling in his gut.

"I think I'm gonna come back to that," he laughed. "She can be really stubborn."

"I'm sure you'll win her trust back quickly," Keith assured him.

They had reached the empty kitchen and kept talking about possible ways to fix Lance's problem. Both of them didn't look at the clock as they kept the conversation going until late at night.

"Oh shit, I really think it's time to go to sleep," Keith said, suddenly realizing what time it was. They agreed to keep up the work for the next days, but now it was definitely time for bed.

When Lance arrived in his room he quickly changed and let himself fall on his bed. He thought about the evening and his mouth curled into a small smile before falling asleep.

The next few days progress went agonizingly slow. After some time Keith just accompanied Lance to Blue, first talking about the day and then letting Lance try and enter his lion.

On day four Lance lost it.

"Jesus Blue, please work with me! I thought you and I had a special bond! Why are you throwing this away, you and me are, like, the best team here! And I love piloting you! Please let me keep doing what I love for God's sake!"

Keith looked obviously alarmed to see Lance risking everything like that, they didn't know how Blue would respond to this. She maybe could never open up for him again, but that's not what happened.

She opened up.

"Yes! Oh Blue, I love you!" Lance exclaimed and ran up to her. Keith waited for a minute or two, expecting Blue to take off, but nothing happened. Lance exited again. "Well, she's not letting me pilot _yet_ but we'll get there, eh?"

He patted his lion enthusiastically and Keith had to grin at him, finding his friend's behaviour rather funny.

Lance jumped down to his friend and high fived him. "Come on, let's join the others at dinner."

 

"Today Blue actually opened up! I'm sure in the next few days I'll be able to fully pilot her with no problems again," Lance announced at the table.

"That's great news!" Allura said. She looked genuinely relieved about this information. She had pronounced her worry for the situation the last few days, scared of being defenceless in an attack.

"It is, but don't strain your lion," Shiro warned. "Patience. Everything will come at its time."

"I'll keep an eye on it," Keith chimed in.

The next day Lance waited impatiently for training to end, so that when it ended he happily dragged Keith with him and ran to his lion.

"Can you maybe go up with me? I feel like it's going to work better then," Lance said smilingly.

He didn't know that, but just alone the smile made Keith immediately say "Yes".

Together they approached the lion, with a "Heya there, Blue!" from Lance. She promptly opened up and the two boys walked up, but before they could enter the lion's interior, Keith slipped on the ramp, his jacket's sleeve catching in a handle, ripping it up completely from the wrist to the shoulder.

"Keith! Are you okay?" Lance exclaimed. "Also holy shit what the fuck is that on your elbow."

Keith's arm was covered in purple spots, mostly centred at his elbow but also scattered over his arm. He quickly grabbed his jacket to cover his arm, but obviously Lance had already seen it.

"Are you okay?" Lance asked cautiously.

"Obviously!" Keith snapped back.

"But your arm-" "Is fine! It's always been," he backed off and left the ramp, leaving back Lance.

"Come on, man," Lance huffed, but didn't run after him. He waited, he didn't exactly know what for, maybe for Keith to come back. Maybe not. He sighed, walking up the ramp inside, hoping he was able to finally fly again.

But as he was already walking up to the cockpit he felt Blue slowly shutting down. "No…" he grumbled, "you stay with me."

Determined he sat down in the pilot's seat, firmly grabbing the controls and moving them forward to start the engines. He felt nothing. Leaning back and defeated he stomped his foot. "Blue, whatdya think. Should I check on him or nah? Growl once for yes and twice for no."

To no one's surprise, nothing happened. "Yeah," he said, "I was thinking the same."

* * *

 

"Keith I swear, please don't pull a Blue. Open up!"

Lance had been standing in front of Keith's room for three minutes before he decided to leave again. He was hungry anyway. Also he needed to calm down if he wanted to pilot Blue any time soon. He'd try again later, he was sure it would work then.

* * *

 

It did not work.

"Blue, are you kidding me? Now you won't even open? For REAL?" He stretched out his arms, looking at his lion unbelievingly.

"That's it," he decided. "Keith, I am going to decapitate you."

With this intention he left the hangar and walked quickly to the dorms.

"KEITH!" He slammed his fist against the boy's door. "Blue doesn't respond at all anymore!"

He didn't expect any answer, but the black haired boy was always up for surprises. "This is your problem. Sort your emotions out," Keith called from inside.

"I am AWARE of my emotions, and I am upset and sad because a certain friend of mine will not talk to me!" Lance called back. He was having none of it today.

To his delight Keith's door opened, revealing Keith; in only a shirt and short pants, wearing neither gloves nor his jacket. His arms were covered in the purple spots, centring at his elbows, just like his knees. His palms were entirely purple, and under his collar purple freckles peeked out at the side of his neck. "I knew the day would come where I had to show you guys," he confessed.

"Keith, no one is here. I told them you feel sick," Lance said, his voice unsteady and brittle.

Keith looked at him with wide eyes, almost thankfully, but then caught himself gesturing for Lance to come in, and to sit on his bed.

"I don't even know where to start," Keith said.

Lance had to sigh deeply before he was able to say anything. "Just start wherever."

Keith nodded. He looked relieved and torn at the same time, if that was possible. "I have known that I was trans for a long time now. Almost ten years. Over the years I have learned to accept it more and more. I am comfortable with the thought, and I'm open about it. I just wish… I wish I could show it. I wish I could show myself because I'm not embarrassed by it. It's not hindering me…

What is refraining me are these fucking spots all over my body and I hate it. I think you and me know where they come from, but I really hate the thought, and I hate them." He gestured to the spots.

Lance knew what he meant. They had discovered Keith's partial Galra heritage, and given the fact that they had purple skin it was almost self explanatory that these dots developed caused by this.

"I'm really sorry if I freaked you out," Keith apologized, looking down on his bed.

"Not at all," Lance said and his voice gave away he was rather mesmerized than repulsed. "And I think you shouldn't be either. If you want to show yourself, you should do it."

"I want to, but-" "Do it!" Lance pressed. He wasn't able to see his friend suffer this much, let alone not accept him with a welcoming attitude. "I promise, you won't be judged."

Keith looked even more torn than before but nevertheless got up, and swiftly took off his shirt. Lance was taken aback, not only from surprise but also because of the beauty of the patterns on his waist, and the beauty of him.

The purple dots were dancing from Keith's shoulders around his collar bones, vanishing down his cleavage under his binder. The splotches varied from as big as palms to small freckly dots, reminding Lance of a mix of vitiligo and freckles. A thin path trailed down his stomach to his belly button and his hips and waist showed peaks of the patterns that continued on his back; he turned around and Lance had to gasp.

"Wings," Lance exclaimed quietly.

"Huh?" Keith asked over his shoulder.

"I uh… I mean the patterns remind me of angel wings on your shoulders," Lance said embarrassed, but it was true. The dots started at his spine and spread out over his shoulder blades down his arms. In fact, his entire spine was covered, and around his waist the dots advanced out to his sides. It was difficult to describe, but it was more beautiful to see than to hear what it looks like, anyway.

"Oh," Keith answered and turned to Lance. "I don't know what it looks like on my back."

"You don't?"

Keith shook his head. "It looks wei-"

"Wonderful!"

Both were surprised about Lances interjection, but he stood by what he said. "For real, I have never seen something so awesome."

"Well, then be ready, because that's not the only thing going on," Keith explained to hide his red face. He took a hair tie from his nightstand and a flashlight, first tying his hair together, giving Lance time to admire his friend's body. He had always seen him in a jacket and all his clothes on, and seeing all this skin was definitely something new. He was never really aware of Keith's soft frame. How could he, he never saw it. His soft shoulders and tiny waist and… his hips. Oh, his hips, Lance couldn't look at them long enough.

When Keith was finished he turned his head so Lance could see the purple tips of his ears and… earrings! One small black stud in each ear. The entire back of his ears were purple, dots dancing into and out of his hairline, trailing down his neck to his spine.

"Plus…" Keith continued and leaned forward, baring his teeth and tipping his nails against the outer ones, and the more Lance looked, the more he recognized… "I used to file them down, but didn't need to anymore, they keep growing but eating food files them naturally. But since we only eat soft goo here…"

"This is…" Lance said, not able to comprehend it. He saw the vague shape of fangs the outer teeth showed.

"Horrible?"

"So fucking cool. But what do you need the flashlight for?"

Keith held on finger up. "That's my final trick." He walked over to the light switch and flicked it off, switching the flashlight on. He found his way back to Lance in the dark, sat down in front of him and exhaled one last time, before switching on the flashlight and shining the light into his own eyes. They reflected it so brightly, reminding Lance of cat's eyes, glaring and dangerous.

"I don't even know what to say," Lance confessed.

"Then please don’t say anything," Keith whispered. He lowered his gaze again, kind of sad and intimidated, but the darkness made it hard to exactly pinpoint his emotions. But Lance grabbed him by the shoulders, although he had to force himself to not pull away again; Keith's skin was cold as ice. Lance looked him into his reflecting eyes.

"No, you are amazing and there is nothing that can change this. You are still the world saving Keith I know and I appreciate," he explained. His hands wandered to Keith's face cupping it and smiling at him he said, "and I am so so happy you have told me this."

He hugged his cold friend, who was hesitant at first but then hugged him back, tighter than he thought he'd ever hug someone. He buried his face in the crook of Lance's neck, who felt wet tears dripping down on him.

"Thank you," he said. He was quivering, but then it turned into shaky sobs, holding on for an eternity how he felt.

"You're a great person, you know that, Keith?" Lance asked, earning heavier sobs from the boy in his arms.

They stayed like this until the sobs have vanished and Keith was breathing steadily again.

"Are you okay again?" Lance asked, and Keith nodded. They slowly parted, looking at each other for a second, when Lance completely destroyed the moment. "Damn, I really have made it if I'm chilling with someone in their bed while they're shirtless, haven't I?"

"Oh my God," Keith groaned and quickly put on his shirt again, walking to the light switch. "You may leave now."

Lance waited for Keith to switch on the light and then got up, stretching himself with a cocky grin. "Actually, I might, because it's late," he said, making Keith's face drop almost unnoticeably.

He looked down, then smiled. "Thanks again."

Lance pulled him in for another hug, resting his chin on Keith's head. He swayed softly. "Nah, thank you. And good night, little cupcake. Damn, I never realized how much smaller than me you are."

Keith pushed himself away from Lance, playfully putting his hands on his hips. "Leave," he laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow anyway, and then we'll work on your lion."

"Alright, good night," Lance chuckled leaving the room, waiting for the door to close behind him. He stretched his arms into the air, and let them slowly come down again with a big exhale and an even bigger grin. He leaned against the door hugging himself, not able to wipe the grin away from his face.

What he didn't know was that the boy on the other side of the door had unknowingly copied his actions, leaning against the door grinning to himself. He looked down on himself, examining the ornaments decorating his skin.

"So they're pretty, huh?"

 

The next day both boys couldn't wait until training was finished, to officially keep working on Lance's situation, but unofficially to spend time alone together.

They had worked very efficiently, surprising even Shiro, so he dismissed them earlier.

They ran to the lions, Keith giving Lance's arm a little squeeze for reassurance, before he waited for the boy to walk up to his lion. It opened up as easily as weeks before, and Lance waved to Keith to enter it with him.

"I can feel it, I'm sure it's gonna happen today," Lance announced and approached the cockpit. The door slid open smoothly and Keith waited at the entrance, but Lance pulled him in with him, worrying a slight bit that it wouldn't work without him.

He stood next to the seat, looking at Keith, who nodded. The taller boy sat down.

For a horrible moment nothing happened, but then the entire control panel lit up, showing current stats of the lion. Lance couldn't believe it.

"Keith! It worked!" he exclaimed. He looked at his friend who looked as enthusiastic as he felt.

"Holy shit, this is great!" Keith said and was promptly pulled into a hug by Lance, but he didn't stop there. He pulled the boy on his lap pressing him to his chest.

"I am so happy, I can't believe it," he breathed, pulling away from Keith, who looked puzzled. "Let's see if we can work this babe again."

"Are you doing what I'm thinking you're doing," Keith asked and of course; Lance had already taken control over the lion.

"Let's go, Blue, we have to show Keith what we can do, right?" And with a few giant leaps the lion had left the castle and they found themselves in space.

Keith was clinging onto Lance for dear life, "Lance you're still the worst pilot ever."

The lion soared over the castle, slowing down a few kilometres away from it. Keith's breathing went from rapid to steady when he realized they had stopped, but quickened again when he realized he was actually sitting on Lance's lap who was looking at him with big eyes.

"Don't pull shit like this ever again," he said, averting his eyes and looking into space. He tried leaning sideways into Lance, who put his head on Keith's chest, laughing. Keith was positively surprised about Lance's reaction.

"I can finally fly again, I missed this so much! I'm just so happy," he said.

Keith looked down at the brunette boy, not believing his luck. "Yeah, me too."

Both boys had closed their eyes, taking in the moment, when Lance spoke up.

"Keith are you _purring_?"

They looked at each other, one boy askingly, one shocked, but the latter decided it didn't matter anymore.

"Bitch, I might," he said, shrugging.

"You're wild," Lance said and laughed. "Oh and also there's a strict No-Hiding-Policy in my vehicle, so these," he took off Keith's gloves, "and this," he took off Keith's jacket, "are forbidden in here."

Keith looked after his clothes tossed on the floor and then at Lance who grinned, and he couldn't help but grin back.

"You're unbelievable," he said, leaning a little forward until their foreheads rested against each other. They closed their eyes again and forgot everything else for a minute or three.

"I could have never done this without you, you know," Lance said, not opening his eyes.

"Don't talk bull, of course you could've," Keith replied. "I didn't do much, did I? In the end you're the one piloting." He felt Lance's breath when he laughed.

"Still, you believed in me," Lance said.

"We all do."

Lance opened his eyes to see Keith already looking down on him, giving him the warmest smile. He had to smile back at that and asked himself if there had ever been a person able to not return Keith's smile. Probably not. He put his arms around Keith's midriff and pulled him close to his chest, Keith mimicking him and putting an arm around Lance's shoulder.

They could've stayed like this for ever.

* * *

 

"Guys, no need to worry anymore! Lance saves the day and is fully able to fly his big kitty again," Lance called over the dinner table.

"Great work, Lance!" Allura said approvingly, she was visibly relieved.

"I agree, I'm very proud of you," Shiro nodded. "Tomorrow we'll be working again on our battle techniques as Voltron."

"Oh thank God," Pidge exclaimed. "I literally can't feel my arms anymore we've been doing so much combat training."

"Very much true," Hunk agreed. It was obvious that the team needed some change.

Keith had noticed that Lance was proud of Allura's and Shiro's praises, and he nudged him with his elbow, giving him a reassuring smile, which was immediately returned.

 

After dinner, Keith pulled Pidge aside, dragging her through the castle away from the others. "Can I ask you something?"

The girl just shrugged. "Sure."

"Okay so, you and Lance are pretty much siblings, right?"

"One could say that."

"And you know quite some stuff about him, right?" He carried on, entering the elevator with Pidge. He pressed the button for the top floor.

"The question is what do YOU wanna know about him?" She looked at him expectantly.

He looked obviously uncomfortable, but he knew he'd ask it sooner or later, so he'd rather have it sooner.

"Is Lance straight?"

Pidge had to take a second or two to process what Keith had said. "Are you fucking with me? Have you SEEN him? He flirts with every alien he meets, before even knowing their gender, I think that's as pan as it gets."

"But I thought he did it according to their hair length," Keith asked dumbfounded. The elevator had stopped and opened the door to the conference room, in which both of them stepped.

"I'm at least two hundred percent sure he just has a thing for long hair," Pidge said, making Keith touch his own hair. "Why did you ask, though?"

"Oh I just... he might have seen me shirtless, in my binder though... and since then he's been... I dunno..."

"Oh, I know where you're coming from."

"You do?"

"Yeah," Pidge said. "You want to know if he actually sees you as a girl because of your physique and is now into you because he's into every girl."

Keith turned red, but she had definitely hit a spot. "Yeah, basically," he said and scratched the back of his neck.

Pidge put a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head. "I can assure you he sees you completely as a boy. He can act weird at times, but he accepts people how they are. Always." Then she removed her hand, putting it on her waist. "Now if you'd excuse me, Hunk and me have been wanting to fix the anti gravity function in this damned castle. Good luck you two!"

She waved and entered the elevator again.

"Yeah, you too," Keith replied and watched the doors close before he sat on the table and took his jacket off.

He let his gaze wander over the windows and the many many stars they displayed, making him feel even smaller than he actually was. He didn't how much time passed before he suddenly heard the elevator doors open again. He quickly reached for his jacket but reconsidered.

"Lance?"

"Yes, it's me, no need to worry, freckle boy," Lance said behind him. He climbed on the table and sat down next to Keith, putting an arm around him, who leaned into him. "Why was Pidge grinning at me when we happened to meet in the elevator?"

"I dunno," Keith said. He didn't exactly want to talk about it.

"I think you know," Lance said warily.

Keith sighed. "I asked her if you were straight because I thought you perceived me as a girl and were so close to me after I took my shirt off and I don't know in retrospect it doesn't even make sense I'm sorry," he blabbered, but Lance stopped him.

"I think I know what you mean, but... how could you think that?"

Keith asked himself, too. How could he think so badly of Lance? He put his hands on his face. "I'm so sorry."

But Lance lifted his hand from Keith's shoulder and removed a few streaks of hair from the face of the boy beside him, tucking them behind his purple ear. Again he was surprised about the tiny stud in Keith's ear. "Actually, I am. Sorry I mean. If I gave off that vibe." Keith let his hands sink, looking on his feet.

Lance continued caressing Keith's hair, making him close his eyes and purr again.

"You're so fascinating, you know that, right," Lance said, combing the black strands.

"Hmm," Keith replied. He opened his eyes the slightest bit to gaze out of the window again.

Then Lance had an idea. He trailed his combing fingers farther down the back of Keith's head and before he reached his neck he moved his hand sideways right behind his ear where he stroked the skin through the thick hair softly with his nails.

Of course he couldn't have known that Keith would roll his eyes up and groan almost sexually, but hey, the more you know. The two looked at each other surprised, Lance quickly pulling his hand away, but Keith just took it and placed it back on his head, before hugging his angled knees and closing his eyes again.

"You're out of this world," Lance chuckled, continuing to comb through hair.

"In fact, half of me is, did you know," Keith replied, eyes staying closed.

Lance had to laugh at that, it was freeing to see Keith making jokes, it loosened up the atmosphere a lot. The boys' gazes wandered over windows, inspecting each and every star individually. Some of them might be even dead and they wouldn't know.

"Keith?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm actually kinda tired..."

"Oh, you don't have to keep doing this," Keith apologised.

"No this is nothing, I mean really tired. Do you think we could...?"

"Of course, sorry, sorry," Keith said and jumped down the table, not actually putting on his jacket, waiting for Lance at the elevator.

They were quiet the whole way, even when their hands brushed and their pinkie fingers found each other swaying their hands in the rhythm of their steps. The castle was dark and it seemed like everyone was sleeping already.

When they reached Keith's room he expected some kind of good night or something, instead Lance pulled him along up to his own room, entering it and letting himself fall on his bed.

"If you're already not even asking me to come along, you might as well make space for me," Keith said and kicked Lance's shin softly.

"Ouch," he said, not moving.

Keith took off his shoes and put his jacket next to them, sitting on the bed and then falling on Lance's chest, pressing him into the mattress.

"Get up, get up, get up," Lance wheezed after half a minute and jumped up, holding his chest, looking back at Keith apologetically. "I didn't know even this would make me panic."

"It's okay," Keith said. "You can sleep on the outer side, if you want."

Lance found this a good idea and took his clothes off too, lying down next to Keith, pulling him to his chest. Copying his movements from before Lance put a hand behind Keith's neck, softly going through his hair. Then he fell asleep to Keith's purring lulling him in.

That night Lance was woken up due to the mattress shifting and Keith leaving the room.

"Keith?" he yawned, rubbing his eyes. When he got no answer he decided to go after him, catching up with him in the hallway. He softly touched the silent boy's shoulder.

"Keith what are you- oh."

It took all of Lance's self control to not laugh loudly when he realized why Keith had left - the poor guy was sleepwalking.

"I can't believe you," he said and scooped Keith up, carrying him back to his own room. Shortly before he reached it he heard another door opening behind him. Frantically he entered his room as fast as he could, and pressed his back against the door after it closed.

Which planted a thought in his head. What if he wasn't the first one to witness Keith sleepwalking? Apparently people wandered around the halls late at night, so it was likely. But Keith slept in a t shirt, with bare arms...

Lance shook his head and looked down on the little monkey in his arms who had grabbed a handful of Lance's shirt and leaned against Lance's chest, making him clench his jaws.

Get it together, man, he told himself and walked over to his bed where he put Keith down, climbing next to him. He wrapped his arms around the smaller boy hugging him tightly to not let him go again. He was definitely gonna check something out the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, so! thank you so much for reading, this took an eternity.   
> please comment what you think and let me know what you liked especially!   
> and yes the title of this work is supposed to describe keith hahaha  
> during a lot of time in this chapter i imagined the characters in catnippackets' (on tumblr) style, just so ya kno whats going on in my brain


	2. Closure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> find out urself ;;;))))))))

"Pidge!" Lance called into the dining hall the next day. He was looking for her, the thought he had had last night didn't leave his mind.

"Oh, you're looking for Number Five?" Coran asked from inside the room. He was squatting on the floor looking deep into the ventilation shaft. "She's in the training room with Hunk and Shiro. Or not, depends."

"On what?"

"If she finished doing the dirty work in the air conditioning system for us!" He chimed, getting his head out of the hole in the wall. "Maybe she's somewhere near, let's find out. Hoohoo!"

As soon as he called into the shaft he got an answer.

"I'm trying to work here!"

Lance was certain he didn't want to witness Coran getting cussed out by Pidge, so he decided to leave the scene and go to the training deck.

He entered the room to see only Hunk and Shiro.

"Is Pidge still in the vents?" Lance asked, stepping closer to them.

Shiro nodded. "Sure is." He was standing straight with crossed arms, wearing his usual Dad-like stern expression.

Next to them was a vent on knee height, the lid unscrewed on the floor. Lance crouched down and looked inside.

"Pidge!" He called, but got no answer. "Pidgeotto!"

"Go and fuck yourself!" The vents screamed back, making Shiro squat next to Lance.

"Katie Holt!" He hollered. "Language!"

"Goeth and hath intercourse with thyself!" She hollered back.

Shiro just looked Lance dead in the eye, who said nothing.

"I guess working in there is stressful," Hunk defended his friend.

"Agreed," Lance said. "Where is Keith?"

Hunk replied before Shiro. "He flew away with Red. He said to clear his head or something."

"Oh." was all Lance could say. That didn't sound very promising.

They waited ten solid minutes for Pidge to finish her work and exit the air conditioning system. Her hair as well as her clothes were stained in dust, and when she looked up they saw that her glasses were completely opaque. She took them off, cleaned them with her shirt which only smeared them and put them on again.

"I think the shit should be working again. Thou hast called?"

"Uhm, yeah," Lance said. "I wanted to talk to you. Do you think we could…?" He gestured to the door, half looking to Shiro.

"Go ahead," he said. "Good job, Pidge."

She nodded and decided wearing her glasses was useless, so she put them on her head, pointing to the door with her head. "Let's go, Lance."

They exited the room, walking towards the dorms.

"Your mood doesn't seem too good," Lance said, glancing at his friend, who sighed.

"The castle work is just killing me and I have to do all the shit with Coran because he's the only one who understands it and ugghhh," she said. " I just need a shower and then I'm good again."

"Understandable," Lance said. They entered Pidge's room where she rummaged through her drawers while Lance was lying on her bed.

"I just feel like I'm not appreciated enough in this fucking team, you know? It's like," she waved with the shirt she got out, "I love math, but it takes actual braining? Also now you've witnessed, it's also physical work, so…"

She took her stuff and entered her bathroom, but leaving the door open. Lance was used to it, it's not like anything would happen anyway, also from the bed he wasn't able to look into the bathroom.

"That actually sucks," he said while looking at the ceiling. "I hope you know I appreciate your work here a lot."

"You better!" She called and the shower was turned on. "I feel like Shiro just says thanks 'n stuff because he's supposed to. Like a dad. And Allura sometimes, too. Did it ever occur to you they actually are our new parents? How wild is that. Anyway, but like, Keith? He hardly ever speaks to me. Or Coran. Man, the dude is pressuring me like shit."

Lance kept listening to her while she finished showering, and changed, just to enter the room with fresh clean clothes and a towel around her head. He sat up, his feet dangling from the edge of the bed.

"Boy, do I feel better now," Pidge said and stretched. She went over to her drawer again and got a little box, a blow dryer and a comb. "Nothing a rant and a shower can't fix."

Lance laughed and accepted the things Pidge handed over to him, putting them beside him. No one knew this but Lance was the only one in the garrison who had known of Pidge's secret. One day she told him about how she missed her mother who used to do her hair after she took baths, and since he missed to braid his cousins' and sisters' hair, they agreed to share that tradition with each other.

Just like in old times she sat down in front of him on the floor between his feet and folded her hands in her lap.

He first cautiously combed through her strawberry blonde hair, then used the blow dryer on it, both enjoying the silence, only the warm noise of the dryer filling the atmosphere, sending shivers down their spines.

"You know," Lance said while finishing the last strands, "I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot," Pidge replied, waiting patiently.

"Nothing horrible, don't worry. But uhm… Have you ever seen Keith sleep walking?"

Pidge first said nothing, as if debating whether to admit it or not, but then she answered. "Yeah, like three times already. I just took him by the hand and led him to his room again. Like you're supposed to with sleepwalking people."

"Ah," Lance said, still unsure how to approach his actual question. He had finished drying her hair and combed through it one last time before taking a hair tie and dividing her hair into sections. "And he was wearing normal sleep clothes, like t shirt and stuff…?"

"Yeah."

"So you saw the…-"

"Yeah."

They were quiet while Lance braided Pidge's hair, careful not to tug too much.

"Have you told anyone?" Lance asked.

"I… I panicked. I thought it was something bad. I told Shiro, but we can be sure he told no one. I can't guarantee that Coran or Hunk hadn't seen him too though."

Silence again.

"I found out by accident, too," Lance confessed. "We we're working on Blue when he slipped and his jacket ripped. He was so mad."

Pidge nodded as much as her braided hair let her. Lance wasn’t finished yet.

"I went to apologize to him and he told me everything. He also showed me. I have never seen anything like it but it's just so amazing. Did you also know that his eyes, they…"

"Reflect?" Lance had finished braiding the French braid, keeping all the hair strands out of his sister's pretty face, which was now turned to him. "I saw it when I went after him with my flashlight."

She got up and put the utensils away they used, taking the towel to the bathroom.

"I'm really fucking cold," she said and motioned for Lance to get up so she could lie down under her covers. He was feeling tired too, so he lied down next to her on top of the covers, one hand under his head and one arm stretched out. Pidge used it as a pillow.

"I hope he realises soon how much we love him," Pidge said. "I feel like he's a fun guy to be around."

"Yeah," Lance answered. He thought about his last encounters with Keith.

"You like him, don't you?" Pidge glanced up at Lance who head butted her.

"Ouch!"

"Shut up, you little parasite," he told her and closed his eyes. "I don't exactly think he likes me."

"Why not?"

"'He went away with Red to clear his mind'? That doesn't sound too promising, after..."

"After…?"

"We spent the night…?" he said, almost expecting an explosion or something. Instead, Pidge gasped.

"You did no-!" "We didn't!" He interceded. "Do anything. Hell, we didn't even kiss."

"Lame," Pidge grunted.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" "Didn't I tell _you_ to go and fuck yourself?"

Both snorted at this and fell after a few more giggles asleep.

 

"Oh my God this is the most adorable shit I've ever seen," Hunk squealed, waking Pidge and Lance.

"Shut uuuup," Lance groaned and turned around to look at Hunk, who wasn't alone. Next to him stood Keith with an unreadable expression. "Oh hey."

"Good morning," Keith returned. The slightest hint of a smile appeared on his face, signalizing Lance he had nothing to worry about. All was well. Right?

"Guys," Hunk said, glancing back and forth between the two boys, "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry, so if we could get to dinner…"

"Yeah, sure," Lance said, getting up and pulling back the blanket. "C'mon Pidge!"

"No," she said, burying her face.

Lance scooped her up and threw the bundle of Pidge over his shoulder, not listening to her protests. "Don't you wanna show the princess your hair?"

Like a little squirrel she moved around Lance's torso, making him give her a piggy back ride. She rested her cheek on his shoulder, holding herself up by sole strength. Lance didn't even have to hold her.

"Lemme sleep," she mumbled. Lance looked at his other two friends who just shrugged.

"I guess it's dinner time, then."

 

On the way to the dining hall Hunk walked fast to get there quick, leaving a few meters between him and the other paladins. Lance wasn't sure what to say or if to say anything, so he kept his mouth shut, looking at the floor and glancing every now and then in Pidge's direction. He felt Keith glancing at him, too, but he was too scared to look at him.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was a big worry wart. He had no guarantee that Keith actually liked him, and this trip with Red sounded like a sobering act. 'Time to think'. Lance was sure the conclusion was 'I can't be friends with a dude who needed a week to sort things out with his lion after he collapsed in it'. He couldn't wait to hear it.

But to his surprise the back of Keith's hand brushed against his own. He kept looking at the floor, wondering if it was just by accident, when it happened again and again. He noticed Keith looking at him from the side, but he was too nervous to look back. But not wanting Keith to feel rejected, Lance smiled at the ground. He noticed Keith smiling back before looking to the front.

"Pidge, dear, your braid looks so good on you! Have you done it all by yourself?" Allura asked when they were sitting at the dining table.

"Actually," Pidge elaborated, "Lance did it for me!" She grinned, proud of the compliment. Her mood was way better now and it seemed to light up the room.

"You can do that?" The princess asked Lance, before taking another bite from her food. Lance nodded. "Could you maybe braid my hair, too?"

To no one's surprise Lance raised an eyebrow, smirking flirtily at the Allura. "Of course princess, anytime you want."

Keith huffed next to him, but smiled.

"Excellent! After dinner will do." She obviously tried to maintain her professional manners, but grinned nevertheless like an excited child. After all, no one has braided her hair in ten thousand years.

"Lance should braid all of our hair so we'd all have a partner look," Hunk said jokingly. "I'm sure Keith's hair is long enough to make a braid."

"It's not," Keith said quickly. "It's, uh… It's too short. I tried." Of course this was a lie, but there definitely were reasons to keep Hunks ideas at bay.

"Pity," Hunk said and pouted. "Or imagine giving Shiro a tiny white ponytail on his head."

Shiro laughed, obviously amused by the picture. "I'd like to see you try."

"Oh! Or Coran with moustache braids!" Pidge suggested, earning a fit of laughter from everyone. Lance glanced sideways at Keith who was laughing too, wiping his eyes.

Afterwards some of the friends stayed seated, including Allura. Lance was standing behind her chair, admiring her cascading hair. He didn't want  to make her sit on the floor like Pidge did, and it was even more comfortable like that.

"One or two braids, Allura?" Lance asked.

"Two look better, I think. I forgot which one I used to favour…" She opened her mini hairdo she used to wear with her open hair, giving Lance the ties.

"Dutch or French braids?"

"What is a Dutch or a French?"

Lance had to take a moment to realize that Allura didn't know about earth geography, then just deciding on Dutch.

"Believe me, princess, earthlings have been asking themselves the same. Never mind," he said and started parting her hair.

"You know what I miss," Hunk said. "Pudding. Man, I could eat a whole bowl right now."

"What's pudding?"

"It's uh… It's liquid-y food that is sweet and can be eaten warm or cold… Man, it's really hard to describe stuff."

"Sounds interesting," Allura said. "I would love to visit earth some time."

"Don't worry, princess, when all of this is over we'll take you home with us," Lance offered.

"I personally think you'll love Europe," Pidge said. "Especially the southern countries, they're warm and the culture is just cute!"

"Just because you're a wannabe Italian," Lance mocked. "Cuba is way better."

"Japan's suited best for her, I think," Shiro interceded laughing. "The cherry blossom time is perfect, you'll love it."

"I'll visit all of your countries!" Allura said, putting her hands on her cheeks. "I see there is a lot about earth I don't know yet, but luckily I have you. Ouch!"

"I'm sorry, princess!" Lance apologized. "I'm almost done with the right side."

"Don't worry, " Allura laughed, waving her hand. "Take your time."

They kept chatting, telling Allura things about earth and eventually Lance finished her hair, putting her braids over her shoulders to the front. "All done!"

"Thank you so much," the princess chimed, admiring her hair. "Pidge now we match!"

Pidge laughed and accepted Allura's hand as she pulled Pidge up from her seat, spinning her around. "Your hairdo looks ah-mah-zing," Pidge said in a posh voice, raising her eyebrows in a stuck up manner.

"Oh well _your_ hairstyle isn't all that bad either," Allura replied, putting a hand on her chest. The girls giggled at each other, making the guys laugh too.

"You have way too much fun with each other," Lance said. "Anyway, I'm slowly gonna get going, my beauty sleep isn't something you delay!" He got up and exchanged goodnights, and exited the room. He had a warm feeling in his gut, happy about his new family. It was a blessing that they all got along.

He walked along the halls, hands in his pockets, when he heard clinking noises from the training deck he passed. He peeked inside through the window and saw Keith in the room, currently fighting against a robotic opponent. Lance didn't want to stare so he averted his gaze before keeping on walking. He was wondering what Keith thought of him. His tummy got warm again when he thought about their hands brushing. Maybe that wasn't affectionate though? Maybe it was really an accident? Or it was meant to calm him, but not lovingly…

 _Are you dumb!,_ his brain went. _Think straight for once he clearly likes you, YOU SLEPT IN THE SAME BED!_

That sounds reasonable, Lance thought.

 _What if he didn't mean it, you clearly dragged him there. Maybe he sleepwalked to get out of there..._ His rotten heart was one unforgiving mother trucker. _He'll never like you as much as you lo-_

That was enough. Lance shook his head, he needed to do something else for a while.

That's when he remembered the pool.

He jogged to his room, got changed and with a towel and changing clothes he made his way to the big hall. The room was entirely empty, lights under water illuminating the scene eerily. A bit scary, yes, but he used to swim in the ocean at night, and that was a lot more scarier than a swimming pool. He let himself fall into the water, staying afloat on his back. Again he closed his eyes. He did that a lot.

Then he started swimming, lap after lap until his body got tired but he kept going. He had missed physical exhaustion, which he hadn't experienced in quite some time. When he was on his eighth lap he heard the door open and close again, but assuming someone just opened the wrong door he continued.

"I knew I'd find you here," Keith suddenly said, startling Lance. He almost swallowed a mouthful of water. "Either here, or in the conference room."

Lance looked at him, to his surprise Keith didn't wear his jacket. "You were looking for me?"

"Wild, huh?" Keith chuckled. "Would you mind come here?"

"Why don't you join me?" Lance mocked, smirking.

"I'd rather not." Keith sat down at the edge of the water on his knees.

"Can't swim?"

"Actually, there are several reasons you don't need to know," he said, crossing his arms, but he still kept his smile.

Lance swam towards him, holding onto the edge of the pool left and right from Keith. Lance looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. "So you can't swim."

"Counter question: who would have ever taught me?"

Lance gasped. "I can't believe it! I _have_ to teach you!"

"Another time." Keith scratched his neck leaning back, and then folded his hands in his lap.

"Right, there were other reasons…" Lance said, tapping his chin.

"I just don’t wanna get wet, that's all." Keith's face turned pink, looking away, trying to sound casual.

"Yeeeaaahhh, right," Lance sang, pushing himself from the edge, swimming in circles. "Are you sure about that?"

"Lance, I just showered and I'm mostly certain that I don't want to get wet again," he explained. "I think that's reasonable."

"Maybe," the swimming boy chimed.

"Listen, actually I came here to talk to you-" "Not if you don't tell me the other reason," Lance grinned.

Keith turned an even deeper shade of pink. "You're unbelievable. You don't wanna know anyway."

Lance swam back to Keith again, asking himself if it was that horrible. "Actually, I do. I mean you can tell me anything, we already figured that out." To remind Keith he took his hand (after shaking the water off) and turned it palm up. He didn't let go of it, but Keith pulled it away.

"It's a girl's problem," he mumbled.

It clicked in Lance's mind, and he vigorously shook his head. "If it's your problem then it's _obviously_ not a girl's problem!"

Keith looked surprised at Lance but looked quickly away at his lap. "See that's the thing I wanted to talk to you about… I wanted to thank you. I could tell you everything and you didn't even flinch. You've been nothing but kind to me and I don't understand it but I'm determined to pay it back-" he didn't even get to finish because Lance had pushed himself out of the water, holding himself up on his arms and pressed his lips to Keith's, who gasped.

But it didn't take long for him to return the kiss. Thankfully he put his hands on Lance's wet face, then slowly moving them to the back of his head.

Lance gasped for air, looking into Keith's purple eyes. "Don't worry," he smiled. "You've already paid it ba- SHIT!" he exclaimed, his hand slipping off the edge. He tried to push Keith away so he wouldn't fall with him but promptly pulled both of them down.

With a splash they landed in the water, Lance immediately surfacing to pull Keith up too.

"I am," he coughed, "going to kill you."

"Okay, approved of, but let's get you out of here first," Lance laughed, pulling Keith to the nearby ladder. They climbed up and Lance offered his friend his towel, which he gladly accepted. "I have spare clothes too, if you want?"

"Actually," Keith said shivering, "I'm going to get changed in my room really quick because this is the most disgusting shit I've ever experienced."

"Right! Sorry," Lance said, turning pink too. He decided to get changed in his own room too, so he took his clothes with him and left the pool shortly after Keith. It was just then when it stroke him. He had kissed Keith and Keith had kissed _back_.

This is more than he had wished for. He didn't even know why he had done it. Why had he done it?

When he arrived in his room he still didn't have an answer. He dried off and got into cosy clothes, wondering if Keith regretted it, when someone knocked on the door. He assumed it was Keith, to give him back his towel or something, but it was Pidge, piercing his chest with her finger.

"Did you push Keith into the pool?" she asked out of nowhere.

"What? No! He accidentally fell, that's all," Lance said, whacking her head.

"Well, he better, because he just passed me with the grumpiest face and your towel." She put her hands on her hips.

"Pidge, you're an idiot, he wasn't angry, he was in thought's and do you know why?" Lance was laughing by now, the kiss had boosted his confidence.

"Huh," Pidge asked in a bored voice.

"Because we kissed, so you may leave now," he said and grinned, pushing her out of the door.

"You- !" She shouted but Lance held her hand over her mouth.

"Shut up! And don't tell him I told you or something and DON'T give him any hints like the usual shit you pull."

"Alright, alright," Pidge said and turned around to leave. "Anyway, good night, and don't fuck it up!"

"You're an annoying little brat," Lance called after her and shut the door. He brushed his teeth and thought about the whole day, when someone knocked on the door again.

"Jesus, Pidge," he said to himself and went to open the door, just to find out it wasn't Pidge, but Keith. Of course, with his towel. "Oh, you aren't Pidge," Lance said dumbfounded, and got a confused face from Keith back.

"No… Not that I know of," he said. "I uh… I just wanted to give you this back, and…"

"Come in, if you want," Lance smiled. Keith looked visibly relieved and entered Lance's room, giving him the towel.

"Oh, and there was something I wanted to tell you," Keith said, motioning for Lance to lower himself so Keith could speak into his ear, but instead he kissed Lance's cheek. "I can't reach your face."

Lance had to laugh at that, and hugged Keith, who buried his face in Lance's chest. "That means I have to initiate all the kisses, huh?"

Keith looked up at him, self assured and mocking. "Sometimes you sink enough for me to reach you."

"Oh?" Lance grinned and leaned down to kiss Keith. The boys found a pace that was comfortable for both of them, excited but still fitting their tired mood. Keith's hands wandered up Lance's chest around his neck, pulling him down to him while Lance's hands were placed on Keith's waist wandering to his hips, _Oh, his hips_ , pushing their bodies together. Both grinned through their kisses, unafraid of their goofiness. Lance had leaned forward so much making Keith make tiny steps backwards when his back hit the wall, making both of them laugh. Lance was about to pull Keith closer again when the latter hissed.

"Did I hurt you?" Lance asked worried, but Keith just shook his head, eyes almost squinted shut.

"Just… abdominal cramps," he said, playing with his fingers behind Lance's neck.

"Oh," the taller boy said and kissed Keith's cheek, moving closer to his ear. "Let's get you to bed, then."

"You're the best," Keith said and lied down before Lance could get a panic attack on the inside of the bed again.

"I've been told," Lance answered and lied down next to him. "Is there anything one can do to make it better?"

"I suppose you don't have a warming band aid or whatever?"

"Nah," Lance said, pulling Keith to his chest, hugging him from behind. "But I do have warm hands?"

"Oh my God, amazing," Keith said and took Lance's hands and placed them on his tummy, not letting go of them. "You know you're amazing, right."

Lance laughed and kissed Keith's head, who squeezed his hands in pain every now and then. He started to draw circles on Keith's shirt with his thumbs, making it slowly move upwards, eventually making him touch bare skin, making both of them shiver.

Soon the squeezing occurred in bigger intervals and then stopped completely. Keith had fallen asleep, and so had Lance.

 

In the morning Keith was woken up by Lance giving him little kisses all over his neck and cheek.

"Wake uuup!" He chimed, grinning as Keith started to stir.

"Leave me aloooneee," Keith answered, burying his face in the pillow, hissing again.

"That bad?" Lance asked, leaning over to look down at Keith. His forehead started glistening from sweat, he nodded.

"I still need to get up, though." He sat up, holding his stomach and Lance jumped out to make way for Keith to leave the bed. Lance noticed his face being weirdly white. "Thanks," Keith said and stood up, but as soon as he was standing straight his vision darkened and his body tilted sideways. "Oh-oh."

Luckily Lance caught him, sitting him down on the bed again. "Oh my God, Keith are you okay? Hello Keith, talk to me!" He started to panic but Keith was sitting up straight again. He looked at Lance, pupils reducing from big to a normal size again.

"Did I pass out?" He asked confused.

"For a second or two, yeah," Lance wheezed.

"I guess I lost a little too much blood," Keith said and attempted to get up again, but Lance pushed him down again.

"How about you get used to sitting before you stand?" He laughed nervously. "Or- I have a better idea. Lie on the floor."

"Nooo," Keith groaned. "I hate that."

"C'mon!" Lance insisted and watched as Keith lowered himself on the ground, leaning back with his eyes shut.

"I feel so dizzy," he said with his arm over his eyes.

Lance took Keith's (small) feet and raised them up, lifting his legs off the ground. "Let's hope some blood rushes into your brain soon enough so it will stop."

For about a minute or two Lance kept Keith's feet on his lap. "Better?"

"Everything is still spinning."

So Lance got up and took Keith's feet with him, making his legs stretch. "Let's see how stretchable you are, shall we?"

"I swear to God…" Keith said, but stopped. He tried to breathe evenly and relax and after some time he consciously felt his head on the ground, not as light as before. He removed his arm from his face. "Definitely better now."

Lance grinned and put his legs down cautiously, helping him up into a sitting position and then they stood up together.

"I'd make a good doctor, huh?" He wondered proudly.

"You'd make an okay nurse, at best," Keith chuckled and went for the bathroom.

"What!" Lance exclaimed but Keith had already closed the door. 'Okay nurse, yeah, right,' he thought and let himself fall on the bed. He thought about the change in their relationship and felt joy rising in his chest. Was this what the real Keith was like? He wished that this wouldn't be kept a secret. He wished Keith wouldn't keep himself a secret.

Lance was very sure that unexceptionally everyone would accept Keith, including Allura. Especially her. When they had found out Keith was part Galra it had been a shock for her, but she quickly learned that Keith was still a good man. Lance was sure she'd be as proud of him as he was. Maybe it was the best for everyone if he opened up a little. Maybe…

"I'm rushing over to my place to get changed. See you at breakfast?"

Lance didn't even notice, but Keith had exited the bathroom and stood by his bed. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'll get changed now, too," he said, but remained on the bed.

Keith chuckled and knelt on Lance's bed, hovering over him. "I didn't know you could get changed without moving?" He kissed Lance's lips smilingly and got up again. "See ya, blue boy," he said and vanished through the door.

Lance turned around and let out a long and hearty sigh into his mattress. His crush on Keith became way too much to bear.

Like this they sneaked around for weeks. Hidden kisses being stolen, interlaced pinkies and glances being exchanged. The other paladins started picking up on the growing bond between the boys and didn't take long to start teasing them about it. When they had shooting training Pidge and Hunk were on the floor when they figured out that the farther Keith stood from Lance, the better Lance's shot was. "Stop shaking, Jesus!" Pidge would scream of laughter and Lance aimed the gun at her, but the teasing never stopped. The colour of Keith's face would be permanently be at least pink, either from Lance's flirts or their friends' whistling and whooping. He was constantly covering his face with hand or hair or anything that was there to save him from the situation.

To be quite frank, Lance knew how his friends loved to goof around and he didn't mind the jokes. Though he was not happy about how Keith might experience them. When they were alone Lance would ask him if he was fine, but Keith assured him he didn't mind, even though it was annoying. Still, secretly both of them wished they could not make assumptions and innuendos every five minutes. Both knew that coming clean and just tell them the truth would be the quickest and most effective way to do it. Both of them wanted to talk about it, but both didn't want to make the other one uncomfortable. Needless to say it took a while until it happened.

"Keith, can we talk?" Lance had then asked, not expecting a "Yes, please," and Keith jumping up from the dinner table.

They were sitting in the conference room, Keith had sat on the table's edge but Lance sat in front of him on a chair, close to the table.

"Look, Keith," Lance began. He couldn't be any more nervous than now, when he was about to ask something serious and his crush was sitting right in front of him. Keith looked at him expectantly, but patiently. He had his hands in his lap, folded. "I uh… I know you are a little uncomfortable with the whole situation of the others always teasing and wanting to know about us and stuff… and I do too! I'd be happier if they didn't… you know. Anyway I wanted to say that I," he didn't know what to do, if to squint his eyes shut or look away, what was the most easy for saying something like this? Instead he looked Keith straight in the eyes, putting his hands on Keith's thighs. "I really like you and I love spending time with you, if I could I would never get up from this table ever again. You mean so much to me, and I can't tell you how much I want to be with you."

Keith's expression was surprised but also pleased, his smile widening further and further.

"So I wanted to ask you what you feel, and I hope I didn't make things awkward if you don't like me back or anything."

Keith leaned forward, resting his forehead against Lance's, intertwining their hands on his legs.

"Lance, I really like you too and I would love to spend an eternity with you."

Apparently Lance had not expected this, he backed away, looking at Keith with a slight unbelieving smile. "Holy shit," he said, letting out a tiny relieved breath. "Then there's only one question left."

"Will you be my boyfriend?" Both said in unison, surprising each other and themselves, grinning as both answered "Yes!".

Lance laughed and pulled Keith into a kiss as he stood up, his hands under Keith's knees, lifting them beside him so his boyfriend's feet hooked behind his back. He trailed his hands up, grinning through the kiss as Keith hugged him and pulled him even closer. Lance grabbed Keith's legs and picked him up, earning a small surprised gasp. He sat down on the chair,  trailing his hands further up to Keith's hips, giving them a small squeeze.

He smiled to himself. These hips he's been thinking about for weeks now. All his.

They broke the kiss and laughed, lips brushing against the other's every now and then.

"You're crazy," Keith declared smiling, hiding his face in Lance's shoulder.

"Why?"

"Your boyfriend is an alien," he said, letting out a laugh.

"Well then you're crazy, too," Lance said, kissing Keith's shoulder.

"Why?"

"Because you seriously think…," he began and stood up again with Keith in his arms, putting him on the table again. "That I…" he continued and kissed Keith, this time full of passion. He hated his loved ones hating themselves, and Keith was a person he would die for. He trailed his hands up, under Keith's shirt, pressing his fingers into the soft skin. His hands explored the soft curve of Keith's hips, then the his waist, finally deciding on just taking the shirt completely off, reconnecting with his lips as soon as possible again. Keith slid his hands down Lance's shoulders, taking off his jacket and throwing it to the side.

Lance leaned forward until Keith was lying on the table. "That I'm gonna miss," Lance said again, now kissing up Keith's jaw, behind his ear, following the path of the purple spots. He moved his head to Keith's collarbones, pressing kisses on the path down his chest over the binder and to his belly button. "An opportunity like being with you."

Under him he saw Keith's chest rising and falling, and with quite some satisfaction he moved up his body again, the tip of his nose hovering only millimetres above Keith's skin. "You are the universes hero, who doesn't want to be your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, right, sharpshooter Mr. Ladies' man," Keith said smiling but in a stern voice. He pulled Lance closer to him by the shirt and shut the boy up, making now both of them lie on the table. "If I see any fan girl too close to you I'm going to end her," he growled, letting Lance's breath in his throat hitch.

"Okay," Lance breathed, not capable of saying more.

Grinning, Keith pushed Lance on the table and straddled him, taking Lance's hands from his hips and pinned them next to his head. "You're officially mine now," he said and nibbled on Lance's earlobe. "And I'm yours."

"You're mine," Lance repeated, his heart skipping a beat. He was positively overwhelmed by Keith's dominance, and his mind was blank so he let his boyfriend control of the situation.

Keith's lips wandered to Lance's neck and he began biting on the skin, making Lance squint his eyes shut and hiss. 

"Your teeth are getting sharper," he grunted, earning a laugh from Keith who then instead began sucking on the sore area.

"I hope you don't mind a little hickey," Keith said and smiled dangerously at the boy beneath him. "If you do, that's too bad." 

Lance's breathing sped up once more, he looked wide eyed at Keith, unable to answer.

Keith snickered at his reaction (or lack thereof) and buried his face in the crook of Lance's neck, leaving small kisses. "You're cute, you know that?"

Having found his breath and voice but not his mind again, Lance answered, "And you're hot, you know that?" He regretted it immediately.

"I don't, but thanks for the information," Keith laughed and kissed Lance one more time but softer, smiling through it. "I can't believe we're making out on the conference table. What would Allura say."

Lance laughed, realising the bizarre situation. "She'd behead us and kick our asses back home," he said.

"Probably," Keith agreed and sat up, chuckling.

Lance sat up too, hugging Keith's waist and looking up at him. Keith swept Lance's hair out of his face, brushing over it.

"Can you tie your hair up again?" Lance asked when he noticed a hair tie on Keith's wrist.

"Why?" Keith asked back, but was already on it. Lance watched Keith comb through his own hair, not irritated by the few strands not making it into the ponytail framing his face, arms raised, chest out, head lowered. Every act was a work of art to Lance.

"Because you look amazing with it," Lance confessed.

"I still want to cut it short," Keith said, putting his arms on Lance's shoulders after he was done. "I would look more male."

"If that's what you want, then let's do it," Lance suggested, looking dreamily up to Keith, who shook his head.

"The spots-" "Look amazing and are your unique thing."

Lance drew circles on Keith's hips, looking him in the eyes. "I know for sure that the others will not only accept it and understand, but love you even more. It's your decision, but you will be so much happier. Let them see the amazing and light hearted and _free_ Keith I know."

Keith looked to the side and frowned, getting a kiss on his jaw line. "I will think about it."

"You're amazing," Lance smiled and hugged Keith again, who shivered. "Are you cold?"

"I mean I _am_ shirtless, so…"

Lance laughed and took his jacket that was lying next to him, holding it up for Keith to put it on.

"Can we go to your room maybe, I'm kinda paranoid someone will enter the room," Keith said, pulling on the hood of the jacket.

Lance agreed and Keith got up from Lance, who jumped from the table. Without a warning Keith jumped on Lance's back, who yelped and caught him just in time.

"Carry me downstairs."

"Are you sure? You're shirtless _and_ have a ponytail, don't you think that's risky?"

Keith hid his face in the crook of Lance's neck and shook his head. "I'm wearing a hood and you're covering most of me. Aren't you up for a little bit of fun?"

Lance noticed their perceptions of fun differed, but he grabbed Keith's shirt and jacket anyway and made his way to the elevator.

"What if we meet someone?"

"What then?" Keith asked, and Lance obviously didn't have an answer. Keith snickered and pressed a kiss to Lance's neck. "You tell them I'm asleep."

Most of the way went quiet, but before they reached the dorms Shiro stepped into their way, making Lance curse in his mind. He felt the 'sleeping Keith' smile against his neck.

"Ah, Lance! I was looking for you," Shiro said, smiling at him. "Is that Keith?"

Lance was taken aback but caught himself, answering with a steady voice. "Yeah, he fell asleep and- ah…" He was cut off due to Keith opening his mouth and softly biting into Lance's skin, but Shiro couldn't see that.

"And…?" Shiro asked.

"And n-nothing! I just wanted to carry him to his room," he said, his voice quivering. He already had a very hard time keeping a straight face when Keith's tongue touched his neck. He was about to scream.

"Well, I just wanted to ask you if you could help Coran with Blue tomorrow, he wanted to check the vitals of all the lions, starting with yours. They haven't been in combat for some time and he thought now is the best time," Shiro elaborated.

While he had talked Keith had begun sucking on Lance's skin again, making his knees almost give in.

"Of course!" Lance said hastily, his facial expression a mix of an apologetic grin and one that said 'I would rather be somewhere else'. Shiro seemed to notice, but Lance cut him off before he could say anything. "After breakfast I'll go w-with him, got it, I'm really tired, bye!"

Shiro didn't get a chance to reply because Lance had marched off, walking as fast as he could with Keith in his arms who was now chuckling lowly and bit into Lance's skin again, making him clench his jaws.

They arrived in Lance's room and he threw Keith sideways on his bed, immediately pressing him into the mattress with his own body.

"I am going to fucking end you," he growled and kissed Keith violently, who moaned into the kiss. His tongue danced over Keith's lips but he moved his head down Keith's neck before he had the chance to open his mouth. Lance sucked on his neck, making sure to leave several hickeys before continuing to move down Keith's body. At his belly button he moved sideways to softly bite into Keith's hip and suck on the skin again, making him gasp.

Then he moved lower and kissed the skin right over the hem of Keith's pants, smiling, but then he stopped. Keith whimpered, causing Lance to laugh.

"You'd love me to keep going, right?" He chuckled, taking Keith's hands which had moved up to his hair. "Nope, these stay put," he said and placed them over Keith' head. "Don't move them away, or I'll stop."

Keith looked at him with big eyes, unable to say anything, and watched how Lance moved his hands agonisingly slowly he undid the buttons of the pants, pulling them down even more slowly. He placed his hands on Keith's knees, kissing his stomach again and then moving down to his thighs, kissing the insides of those.

Keith arched his back, grabbing the sheets and almost teared up when Lance reminded him.

"Don't move your hands."

* * *

 

The next morning Keith woke up first, lying on Lance's chest, their hands intertwined. He remembered the night before and sighed. He needed a shower to process anything at all.

He sat up and yawned, burying his face in his hands.

"You up already?"

Keith turned back to look at Lance whose eyes were still closed. "Crazy, right?" He put his hand on Lance's.

"Especially after I destroyed you." He pulled Keith back to him again, whose face was redder than a tomato now.

"Maybe you did," he murmured, lying next to Lance's face.

"Maybe you deserved it," Lance smirked and opened his blue eyes. Keith couldn't resist but smile back, letting Lance kiss his lips.

"Maybe I didn't."

"I think you're very well aware of that you did," Lance laughed and pinched Keith's side.

"The only thing I'm very aware of is, that I need a shower now and I'm gonna take it." He got out of bed and stretched, giving Lance time to admire his very lightly clothed body.

"Aw, without me?"

"Don't be a fuckboy, Lance." He threw a pillow after Lance, laughing.

"But I am your fuckboy," he pouted, making Keith lean down and shake his head.

"No, you're just my boy. Now if you'd excuse me…" He pushed Lance's forehead away with a finger and walked to the bathroom.

 

When he exited the bathroom Lance was already fully clothed on the bed, tying his shoes. "Should we go?"

Lance looked up at Keith, noticing how almost all of his skin was covered again, but he smiled nevertheless and nodded.

"I was thinking about maybe telling the others about us," Keith said, brushing his hair and adjusting his gloves. "Today."

"You sure?"

Keith nodded.

"Let's go then."

 

At breakfast they were fidgeting with their hands, laughing nervously and glancing at each other every few seconds. It was horrible.

"Since I'm next with the vacation planet, I'm choosing the Balmera," Hunk announced when they had finished eating, and Pidge groaned.

"For real?"

"Actually," Allura said, "that's a wonderful idea. We rely on the crystals, remember? It's always good to learn more about them."

"That's settled then," Coran said, and clapped his hands. "Now Lance, I believe you and me have some work to do…"

"Actually, there's something we need to tell you guys," Keith interrupted, standing up. He looked down at Lance, who nodded.

"Holy shit, here it goes," Pidge whispered, not letting anyone but Hunk next to her hear.

Keith took Lance's hand, looking at their friends. "We're dating."

"YOU SNAKE!" Pidge shouted at Lance and jumped to get to him, but was held back by Hunk. "How couldn't you tell me!"

"Chill, mini tornado!" He said, getting up too. "It happened only yesterday."

Pidge relaxed and was put down by Hunk again, when Shiro spoke up.

"Well, we're all happy you told us, but I think I'm the Dad in this situation, so I'm gonna tell both of you; Don't break each other's hearts."

"We won't," the couple said in unison, their faces getting pink.

"Glad that's settled," Coran said diplomatically and very unimpressed. "Can we get going?"

Keith let out an airy laugh, looking relieved at Lance who smiled back.

"See you in a bit?"

"Yeah," Keith grinned, squeezing Lance's hand and then let go. Everything was starting to fall into place, and he felt his core filling with love and joy. Life couldn't get any better.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so sos osososososo much for reading my lil story here, I really hope you enjoyed it! be sure to let me know your opinion and if you liked it, leave a kudo! thank you!


	3. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just had to, man

 

"Come on, Pidge! We wanna be back by dawn!" Shiro called to Pidge, entering his lion. They had planned a trip around the Balmera which the castle was on right now, exploring its ecosystems.

Hunk, Coran and Allura had gone to pay Shay and her family a visit, leaving the rest to decide what they wanted to do.

"Bye, Pidge!" Lance called and waved together with Keith Pidge goodbye. Hand in hand they waited until the green and the black lion flew off, leaving Keith and Lance back.

"So," Keith said. "You said you already had something in mind what we could do?"

Lance grinned at him and led him back inside. "Actually, I did, but it's a surprise."

Keith rose his eyebrows but said nothing, not even as Lance took a backpack out of nowhere and led him out of the castle. It was already sundown, the sun's light was dimmed and it was cool, but still warm enough for Lance to take off his and Keith's jackets, first hesitantly, then surely when they saw no one was around. Keith put his hair up, feeling the wind dancing on his bare neck.

They took a walk about twenty minutes long, when they arrived at a ledge from where you could look kilometres far into the distance. The usually brown stone was completely orange below them, because the sun didn't touch the horizon there yet. They looked down on the vast stone desert, mesmerised.

"Whoa," Keith said, taking in the view. "I missed sunsets."

"Me too," Lance said, brushing his thumb up and down over Keith's hand. "And that's not everything."

"Huh?" Keith asked but Lance had let go of his hand and put down the backpack to open it, revealing a whole picnic.

He took out a blanket spreading it over the floor near the ledge, motioning for Keith to sit with him.

"You planned all this for me?" Keith asked unbelievingly, sitting next to Lance.

"Of course, I thought this 'dating thing' included dates," he said, obviously proud of himself, but Keith's expression remained baffled. He looked at Lance's orange tinted face, at the light bouncing on and off his tan skin and reflecting in his blue eyes. He felt as if he was being knocked out.

"I think I'm falling in love with you," he blurted out, immediately clapping his hands over his mouth.

Now Lance looked at him as shaken as Keith looked before. He took Keith's hands away from his mouth and his face morphed into a crooked grin. "I think I'm falling in love with you, too," he confessed and pulled Keith towards him until their lips met.

The kiss was soft and warm, tasting like smiles and the sun and relief.

"You make me so happy," Keith said, leaning their foreheads against each other. "I still don't understand how we are together. How is this possible."

"Just accept it, freckle boy," Lance said and kissed Keith's nose. Then he looked in front of them, his smile growing bigger. "Look! It's starting."

Keith followed his gaze and saw the sun touching the horizon, taking him by surprise. It looked so much like earth. He shuffled and lied down putting his head in Lance's lap, watching the sun sink further. Lance started brushing through Keith's hair, when he noticed something.

"Keith, did you _dye_ your hair black?"

Keith froze and touched his hair, remembering his actual hair colour again. "Holy shit, yes," he said. "Is it showing?"

Lance laughed and answered, "Yes, a little. Are you blonde?"

"White haired, actually," Keith said quietly.

"You are really full of surprises," Lance said, not believing his luck of being able to call Keith his boyfriend.

"Maybe it's time to tell the other's about me." Keith mumbled, but then rose his head a little, startled. "Look Lance, the sky!" And indeed, the sun was halfway down, and out of nowhere rainbow coloured lights danced over the purple sky. It was difficult to tell if it was the sky or just an illusion. Space held more surprises for them every day. "It's beautiful."

Lance, who looked back at Keith to catch his surprised and absolutely adorable expression, let out a laugh and nodded. "It really is."


End file.
